Six Tails Worth of Trouble
by LokiHatake
Summary: The FIve-tailed Wolf somehow ends up in Suna, and Gaara decides that the boy just might be acceptable. But what are the rest of them to do with two Jinchuriki who will only listen to one man? And just what does the gray haired boy have against Kankuro and Temari?


Kaze winced as another rock glanced off the side of his head. A single tear threatened to fall, but he refused to let that kind of weakness show on his face. He climbed farther up the tree, until the other children struggled to reach him with their weapon of choice. At this point, rocks were the only thing that could reach him. Whenever a child or adult tried to torment him, the low wind that swirled around him constantly would pick up and push them away. The rocks were not deemed a heavy enough threat apparently.

_**"We could defeat them, they are weak, kill them."**_

Kaze winced again, hand going to the side of the head as the voice in his head spoke again. He didn't know who it was, but it always grew angry when he was hurt or injured. It mattered not that he would heal quickly. As he did so, the black marks that wrapped around his arms pulsed. The strange markings stretched from wrist to shoulder and down his back. They were a murky black color with slim silver edges.

He pushed the voice away, focusing on the scene around himself to ground back into reality. The dying ruins of his village stared back. They were a small village, being made entirely of the working poor. Even the rulers of the village were poor, they wouldn't last much longer. The village had been devastated by the attack of the Five Tailed Wolf. The bijuu had destroyed the entirety of the market sector, and the majority of the residential district before being defeated. Only a handful of civilians had survived, and two platoons worth of Shinobi. It was only their size that had kept them from notice. Kaze had been born the day of the attack, his mother died in childbirth, his father on the front lines, and his brother died during it. Kaze was the only child to survive that had been born that year, the rest had perished when the hospital had been attacked. He'd been hated ever since.

Without warning another rock struck his shoulder. Kaze hissed in a breath, looking down to see blood pouring sluggishly from the wound. Already it was closing.

"Demon!" An elder villager screamed. Kaze looked up at the male, locking pale green eyes with weary black. Dusty gray hair fell in his face, shading his eyes and hiding them in shadow but for the gleam they gave off even in the shadows when light hit them. The elderly male scowled at him before picking up another rock and hurling it at him. Kaze ducked and jumped from his current tree to the next one. The next rock struck his lower back and caused him to fall from the tree. He whimpered in pain as he hit the ground, struggling back up to his feet. He turned to see another rock come hurtling at him. Just as it came within a few feet of him the wind swirled to life with a vengeance, grabbing the rock and flinging it back the way it had come. It struck the elder male in the shoulder, eliciting a gasp of pain. Kaze began to shake in fear.

There were cries of outrage from nearby villagers before he was set upon by the nearest squad of shinobi. Kaze squeezed his eyes shut, crouching down and covering his ears as the wind picked up speed, screaming in his ears. When it finally stopped he slowly opened them. His eyes widened in shock as he took in the changed environment around him. The ground was all but shredded, anyone and anything that had stood within a quarter-mile of him had been picked up and flung repeatedly until it was broken. Cracked rocks and trees, shattered walls and stone fences, dead and dying people, seemingly torn limb from limb and tossed about like chew toys.

Kaze stumbled backwards, tripping and falling before picking himself up and running away as fast and as far as his feet could carry him.

-s-s-s-s-s-

The desert was hot, and windy. He was thirsty. He had drunk the last of the water he had stolen from the corpse of a bandit that had attacked him. He'd been moving from place to place for weeks. Kaze had been mistaken for an easy target by bandits on several occasions. His wind always protected him. The voice in his head had grown harder to ignore, telling him things. At first he had tried to ignore it, push it away. But the voice was persistent. By now, he'd given up.

After one particularly brutal attack by a bandit he had fallen asleep and woken up in a forest he didn't know. At five, he was dwarfed by the giant trees and fog filled valleys. It was inside a large cave that he found the speaker. A humongous five tailed wolf lay in wait within it. A collar rested around its throat, a heavy chain holding to a point in the center of the cave. Kaze had recognized it immediately, shaking his head in fear. The wolf had laughed at him.

A chuckling in the back of his head brought Kaze's thoughts back to the present. He scowled, stumbling forward in the sand, trying to conserve energy. The wolf had told him a village resided somewhere in the desert, a place where he could hide, where one more child to train to be a shinobi would be welcomed. Kaze hoped so. He had nothing left. His clothing was rags. His pants were shredded, and his shirt was gone. He was wearing an oversized green vest he'd stolen from an adult that had attempted to grab him and gotten on the wrong side of the wind that existed around him. His feet were bare, shoes having broken away a day before.

Kaze kept walking, hoping he would find the village soon. He walked for hours, well into the night. Eventually even his stamina gave out and he collapsed to the sand, body exhausted. His eyes slipped closed, their last sight being of the bloody red sunset in the distance.

-s-s-s-s-s-

Kaze blinked away the sleep from his eyes to the sight of a white ceiling. He could smell antiseptic and adobe. A quiet beeping nearby told him he was probably in a hospital. He looked to the side to see that he was indeed in a hospital room. His small frame looked ridiculous on the huge hospital bed. He sniffed curiously at the bandages wrapped around his upper arm and torso. They smelled a little acrid, like the lotion used on sunburns. He looked to the left and jerked back to see a masked male standing against the wall. He blinked rapidly at the male.

A few seconds later the door opened to admit a nurse and an oddly dressed adult followed by two more masked people. The nurse approached him first.

"Hello there, what is your name little one?"

"K-k-Kaze...How did I get here?"

The woman smiled at him. She began checking the bandages as she spoke, ignoring the small flinch when her skin brushed his, and the small wind that picked up in the room when she came within two feet of him.

"You were brought in by a Patrol. They found you out in the desert. Do you know how you got there?"

"I walked." He said shyly, scooting towards the head of the bed and away from all of them.

"Where are your parents?" The woman asked with a frown. Kaze winced and curled up tightly in a ball, refusing to answer the question. The woman pursed her lips and moved on. "Well, you seem to be healing nicely. You had quite the sunburn. I am going to bring a pitcher of water in here, and I want you to drink at least a glass of water every two hours or so. Okay?"

Kaze nodded and the woman smiled at him before leaving. He turned to face the oddly dressed adult. The adult had stared at him since he came in.

"Do you know where you are?" The voice was male.

"No, where am I?"

"Sunagakure, in the Land of Wind."

"Oh."

The man watched him for a little while before sitting down and speaking.

"You said you walked here, where did you walk from?"

Kaze shrugged, he didn't know what his village was called, or even what Land it was in. He only knew that it had been a really long way away.

"Why did you leave wherever it was you came from?"

"I was scared."

"Of what?"

Kaze stuttered, stumbling over the words before sighing with a huff and speaking. "Everyone."

The man paused to consider that.

"Why were you scared of everyone there?"

"Takeru." Kaze whispered out on a breath of air. "They didn't like Takeru."

"Who is Takeru?"

Kaze shook his head rapidly, if he told them they would hate him too. The man seemed to frown before speaking again in a much sterner voice.

"You will tell me, Kaze, or I will send you back out into the desert."

Kaze stared at the man in horror, he didn't want to go back! He struggled with himself for several seconds before answering. He opened his mouth and winced when the voice in his head growled and yelled at him. He brought a hand up to the side of his head, shaking as the wind picked up around him. With a forced huff of air he shoved the voice away and the wind died back down to an agitated murmur. Glancing up at the male who was watching him closer than ever, Kaze pointed at his head.

With a look of dawning comprehension the male stood up and took a step forward.

"Remove your vest."

Kaze did and before the male could ask he turned his back to the man. Doing so revealed the symbols that made up the lower markings on his back. They had been done in a zodiac style sun pattern and made entirely of little symbols that stretched up to meld together into the markings that dusted his shoulders and arms. The man sighed out a huff of air before sitting down with a thoughtful air. Kaze turned back to the male and picked at the vest in his lap. They stayed this way for nearly half an hour before the male spoke again. During that time the masked man closest to the door had brought him the water the nurse had brought back. Kaze had dutifully drunk an entire glass of it.

"You will be staying with another boy. We will go now so that I may introduce you. You will begin training for the Academy as soon as you are deemed capable of keeping up with the lessons. Come."

Kaze slid off the bed and moved to stand beside the male. The male looked down at him before asking another question.

"What is Takeru, and how many tails does he have?"

"Wolf, five."

-s-s-s-s-s-

Kaze stared at the redheaded kid, Gaara, who stared back at him. The boy had stared at him with that same emotionless expression since the adult man had left with the terse instructions to Gaara that Kaze would be living there. Kaze looked away with a fanged tooth nibbling his lower lip. Without warning the sand around Gaara whirled to life and shot at him. Kaze instinctively raised a hand and his wind arched upwards and collided with the sand, flinging it to either side of him. Both boys blinked rapidly at that. With a frown, Kaze flicked a wrist in the other boy's direction. The wind obediently picked up and shot towards the boy. Gaara's sand reacted and blocked it, being forced back a couple of inches in the process.

Deciding to test this another day Kaze took a few cautious steps forward. When Gaara didn't react Kaze closed the remaining space and poked Gaara in the arm.

"Tag, you're it."

Gaara blinked in shock and stared at his arm. Kaze had the oddest thought that the boy had never been touched before. Tilting his head to the side and stepped forward again, wrapping the boy in a hug. The boy stayed stock still for several seconds before he shakily hugged Kaze back. When Gaara let go Kaze stepped back and poked his arm again.

"Tag."

-s-s-s-s-s-

Kaze blinked rapidly at the face painted boy and pigtail girl that had walked into his and Gaara's home. The only person beside masked people and the Uncle that either would ever willingly talk about again, who came here was the Kazekage. With the Uncle's death, torn apart by Kaze and Gaara when he'd attacked them, they thought they'd be mostly left to their own devices. These two ruined that happy thought. Standing behind them was a tall man with a scarf blocking the lower half of his face.

"Who are you?" The face painted boy asked. The girl looked confused as well. The man was just watching him closely. Kaze frowned at the two other children. He had enough experience with other children to know they were a bad idea. With a flick of his wrist, the entire trio were forced back to the door.

"Leave." His voice was rough from disuse. Gaara and Kaze no longer needed to talk to communicate. Their bijuu had formed a mental connection between them to allow them to better protect themselves and one another after the Uncle's attack. Gaara appeared behind him in a swirl of sand.

"Get out." Gaara added. "Or we'll kill you."

The three wisely fled.

Two hours later the Kazekage arrived.

"I expected better of you two. Temari and Kankuro are Gaara's elder siblings. You behave perfectly for me at any other time."

Neither child flinched at the reference to the assassination missions the pair had been sent out on as soon as they had shown proficiency for the basics at the Academy. They had long become desensitized to death and gore.

"They are to be your training partners. At the end of the year, when we are certain who you work best with, we will send you out with one of them and the Jounin Baki. Am I clear?"

"Hai."

Gaara and Kaze both stared at the pair who stared back at them from across the training ground. Neither pair really liked the other. Baki finally stepped in to separate the pairs.

"Kaze, you will work with Kankuro today. Gaara you will work with Temari. Move."

Kaze frowned before walking off to one side with Kankuro. The pair nodded to each other before making space. Kaze settled himself in an open space of sand while Kankuro pulled his pack from his back and set it down. The cloth wrapped around it peeled away to show a puppet, it was human sized and bristled with sharp objects. Kaze looked it over with a scoff. subconsciously he encouraged his wind and it rapidly picked up speed. Without warning it shot forward and slammed into the puppet. The puppet flew backwards before crashing into the wall at the back of the training grounds. It shattered on impact, Kankuro diving to the ground to avoid the poisoned projectiles. Baki and Temari did so as well. Gaara, already aware of what was going on simply raised a sand shield to protect himself. Kaze's wind didn't let any of the debris get hear him, and naturally filtered out poisons in the air around him.

Kankuro gaped at the remains of his puppet, mouth opening and closing in shock before he turned to face Kaze with a glare. The boy opened his mouth and took step before the sand around him flared in warning and the wind shoved him back three steps in reprimand. Kankuro turned to see Gaara giving him a murderous expression before swallowing audibly and backing away with his hands in the air. Kaze turned to Baki and the male nodded.

"That is enough for today, you may go."

Kaze and Gaara disappeared in separate swirls of air and sand.

-s-s-s-s-s-

Kaze and Gaara sat and watched the village at night. It was a habit since their minds had connected. Gaara had never been able to sleep, but Kaze had lost the ability when they bonded, his mind tormented just as much as Gaara's by Shukaku. The only upside was the separation of Gaara and Shukaku. An odd side effect of the mental connection was the effect it had on the mental representations of their seals. The two had become intertwined. Now, instead of being bound to the vessels by the vessels chakra network the bijuu were bound by each other. The bars of the cages were just as strong, but now neither child was dependent upon their prisoner, they could survive without them.

Towards that end, both boys had begun to train themselves. Seeing as they were the only ones who could touch the other they practiced against one another. There ultimate defenses had long since stopped defending them from each other to anything but a death strike. Physically, they had the Taijutsu level of high Genin, but in Ninjutsu and Genjutsu they were well into Chunin level. They kept this to themselves though, and focused on their particular gifts.

Gaara focused on things that took Perfect Chakra control. He had stolen Kankuro's puppeteer scrolls and used his sleepless nights to study the art. He could control five puppets at this point, and was working on adding another two to that. He was also learning Medic-Ninjutsu that Kaze had stolen from the Hospital.

Kaze was working on Tracking Skills. With his enhanced senses, a result of his familial bloodline and not Takeru, he made an excellent tracker and with Gaara's skill at concealing scents and tracks was continually tested to further the abilities.

They both had taken up seals out of boredom and curiosity of their own. There were no advanced Fuuinjutsu users in Suna, but they had heard they would be visiting Konohagakure soon on an escort mission. They were going with the Kazekage as Gaara was a child of the man, and Kaze was Gaara's 'Guard.' They hoped to find useful scrolls there.

Kaze turned to see Gaara staring out over the city. The male spoke without turning.

_We should return soon to pack. We leave just after dawn for Konohagakure No Sato._

_Yes, Gaara._ He looked out at the city. _Will you miss it while we are gone?_

Gaara tilted his head slightly as he considered the question.

_I do not know. We are not welcome, but it is still our home._

_I see. Thank you Gaara._

_You are welcome, Kaze._

They watched the city sleep.

-s-s-s-s-s-

Kaze walked beside Gaara through the gates of Konoha. They were escorted by both their own ANBU and several of Konoha's. Kankuro and Temari had been left in Suna for this trip. The Kazekage walked ahead of them, ignoring the ANBU to either side of him. Gaara moved only his eyes as he looked around, but Kaze had no such restraint and looked around freely, noting the positions of all the Shinobi around them and beginning his mental map of the village.

As they entered the Tower Gaara stiffened slightly. Kaze sent reassuring thoughts. Gaara liked being indoors even less than Kaze did. It felt like being trapped. They followed the rest of the party to the Hokage's Office. The escort was left outside as they entered.

Kaze looked over the desk to an older gentleman. The man noticed his stare and smiled kindly back at him.

"I was unaware you had a fourth child, Kazekage."

"I don't, he is Gaara's personal Guard. Kaze, greet the Hokage."

"Ohayo, Hokage-sama."

"Ohayo, Kaze-kun. Do you enjoy being young Gaara's Guard?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

The Hokage seemed to frown as he spoke, obviously concerned with how disused Kaze's voice sounded. The Kazekage turned to Gaara.

"Gaara."

Gaara stepped forward to stand beside Kaze, his voice sounding just as disused.

"Ohayo."

The Hokage smiled softly at him.

"Ohayo, Gaara-kun. Perhaps you would wish to visit the park down the street as your Father and I talk? I will have my ANBU escort you and your Guard."

Gaara turned to his Father, who nodded, and then headed out the door with Kaze just behind him. The pair were joined by a squad of ANBU who showed their presence and then disappeared except for one. This one wore a Dog Mask and had bright silver hair. Kaze scented dogs on him. ANBU Dog led the way to the park. It was empty but for a couple of girls playing near the hop scotch court with dolls. Another boy, with blond hair was playing by himself in the grass next to the sandbox. He had a few broken toy shuriken with him, throwing them at a tree. He looked to be around Nine, Gaara and Kaze's age. He was small though, underfed. Kaze couldn't say much, Gaara and Kaze were also rather short. Kaze thought it might have something to do with them being Jinchuriki. Takeru had mentioned something about their bodies need to consume energy to change their tenketsu so that it could contain bijuu chakra affecting their growth.

Gaara and Kaze went over to the sand box. Gaara immediately sat down and began running the sand through his hands so that it picked up his ambient chakra. Kaze turned to stare out of the park and to the Hokage Monument. This park had the perfect view of it. As he contemplated it he became aware of a gritty feeling building up just behind his right ear. He twitched slightly and reached up to scratch it. He frowned and pulled his hand away when it met a gritty substance. He looked at it to see sand. A confused scowl crossed his face and he turned to Gaara to ask how the sand had got there.

He was stopped by the amused look in Gaara's eyes. The boy's expression may have been blank, but for someone who knew him, the eyes told all. Gaara lifted a small amount of sand and dropped it into one of the small air currents that drifted about Kaze at all times. The sand caught and swirled around him a few times before the current swooped upwards to break just behind his ear. Kaze scowled and brushed the sand away. In retaliation he sent a burst of air at the boy who tossed some of the sand in front of him in his face. As the wind swooped back and returned to Kaze it passed the blond boy. Kaze looked up as the boy's scent reached him.

Fox, he could smell fox. It was faint, and tainted slightly, in a way that reminded him of Gaara's and his own scent. Gaara smelled of Racoon, and Kaze of Wolf, in the same way that this blond smelled of Fox. Kaze turned to the blond and watched him until the boy looked at him.

"Would you like to play with us?"

The boy blinked, glancing rapidly at the places where the ANBU were stationed. It was then that Kaze realized that the blond seemed to have his own ANBU. That confirmed Kaze's belief that this boy was like them. The blond nodded slowly before moving over to them slowly as well. He acted like Kaze had used to act when he was little, as if he expected them to hurt him. Kaze shared his observations with Gaara. The other boy gave a mental nod before turning to the blond sitting next to him.

"I am Gaara, this is Kaze."

The blond blinked at the redhead before replying shyly.

"I'm Naruto. Do you really want to play with me?"

"Yes."

Kaze smiled softly in Naruto's direction.

"We are visiting. We were curious about Konoha, we've never been here before."

"Konoha is the best!" Naruto shouted before he flushed. "Umm...where are you from?"

"Suna." Gaara replied.

"What's Suna like?"

"It is a desert." Kaze replied.

"It is hot, and windy. But the sunset and sunrise are very beautiful." Gaara added.

"Oh. Well Konoha is pretty hot too, but I guess a desert would be even hotter. We have lots of trees, and the monument."

"Oh, is it true there are large sources of water?" Kaze asked curiously. Naruto blinked.

"You mean like a pond or lake? Ya, don't you guys have any?"

"No." Gaara answered. "We do not."

Naruto stared at them in shock for a few seconds.

"I'll show you then."

Gaara turned to the area Dog was stationed in. The ANBU revealed himself for a moment to nod and then disappeared again. Gaara turned back to Naruto.

"We would like that."

Naruto hopped to his feet and led the way to a nearby training ground. Kaze and Gaara followed sedately behind the hyper blond. Even walking slower than Naruto would have liked it only took a few minutes to get there. Gaara and Kaze knew that the Kages would be talking for hours, so they were safe to visit the 'lake' Naruto was leading them to. Kaze was certain Dog had already notified others where they would be.

Kaze blinked at the large expanse of water Naruto was grinning next to. Gaara however hesitantly approached it. He had never seen such a large accumulation of water in one place. Even on their early 'missions' they had not traveled far from the desert, and large sources of water were very rare in the areas they traveled. Gaara crouched down beside it and dipped his fingers in, surprised at the coolness of it. This was the first time Gaara had felt comfortable enough to actually investigate the large water source. Naruto hopped over to them.

"Wanna go for a swim?"

Kaze and Gaara both blinked. Kaze sheepishly shrugged his shoulders.

"The only swimming I know is the doggy paddle, I don't think Gaara knows at all."

Gaara gave him a betrayed expression. Naruto stared at them in horror.

"Oh...I can teach you!" Gaara nodded slowly.

"We would like that. Perhaps one of the ANBU could come closer to make sure we are safe, and that we learn properly."

There was a brief scuffle in the trees before Dog appeared with a 'one moment' hand sign. A few minutes later another ANBU appeared with a brown-haired teacher in tow. The male looked bewildered with a scar across his nose. Naruto obviously recognized him. Dog disappeared again.

"Iruka-Sensei! Are you gonna help me teach Gaara and Kaze to swim?"

Iruka looked around with a confused expression before replying.

"I guess so, Naruto. So are these friends of your's?"

"Yep!" Naruto chirped. He moved to tackle hug Gaara but Kaze just managed to step in his way, ending up with a bundle of blond and orange on his chest. He blinked up at the confused blond before replying.

"Gaara doesn't take well to being 'glomped.'"

Naruto blushed and got up.

"Oh, sorry Kaze. Sorry Gaara!"

Iruka walked over with a sigh and pulled Naruto back.

"It is nice to meet you. I am happy that Naruto has calmer friends."

Kaze grinned faintly at the jibe. Naruto was oblivious to the remark.

"So, so, are we gonna swim now?"

Iruka nodded. "Yes, Naruto. You need to strip to just your pants at least though."

Naruto immediately began to strip. Kaze looked to Gaara who shrugged before setting his gourd against a nearby tree and began to remove his upper clothing and sandals. Kaze huffed before removing the tanto on his back and then beginning to strip as well. Gaara finished first and turned to the tree to stack his belongings. Naruto immediately noticed the seal on his shoulder-blade.

"Oh, cool! That's an awesome tattoo!"

Gaara blinked. He shot a thought to Kaze. Kaze blinked before mentally shrugging. The blond may not actually know what he was.

"Thank you."

Kaze just rolled his eyes with a headshake before removing his own last article of upper clothing, he had already removed his sandals and shortened his pants. The skin-tight undershirt peeled off, revealing his own seal, and the markings on shoulders and arms. Naruto gaped at him.

"Wow, you have even more tattoos than Gaara!"

Iruka meanwhile had paled dramatically. The ANBU in the trees had also tensed, recognizing the 'tattoos' for what they were. Gaara and Kaze ignored this purposefully, and kept their attention on Naruto.

"Thanks, so, what's the first step for swimming?"

"Ya gotta get in the water, duh!"

Gaara and Kaze both rolled their eyes and stepped out into the water. Gaara had his head tilted in a curious expression before he gave a faint smile, deciding he liked the sensation of being in the water. Kaze, on the other hand, shuddered as the water stilled the air currents that usually protected him. With a distasteful expression he stepped on the top of the water and sat there looking like a drowned rat. Naruto stared at him in awe.

"How do you do that?!"

Kaze blinked.

"Water walk?"

"Ya, that!"

"Ummm..." Kaze tried to describe it. "I kinda just release chakra in a steady stream. You have to balance it with the tension of the water's surface."

"Tension...surface?"

Kaze sighed, the blond obviously hadn't understood a word. He rose to his feet and walked over to the blond. He held out a hand.

"Take my hand."

The blond complied, and Kaze balanced the water under the boys feet so that he could walk him out to a deeper point.

"Alright. Slowly release chakra until I tell you to stop."

There was quiet for a few seconds before Kaze reacted.

"No! Not like that!"

Naruto jerked at the censoring tone.

"What?!"

"That is way too much chakra. Cut that in half, at least."

Naruto flushed with a sheepish smile and tried using less chakra. Kaze studied the water beneath Naruto's feet with a focused expression, before slowly loosening his grip on Naruto's hand. The boy immediately began to sink so he stopped.

"You're just shoving chakra into the water, that's not how it works. You have to make it flat and thin, like a piece of paper. You put it under your feet and stand on it."

Naruto scrunched his face in concentration. He scowled.

"But, it keeps changing. One second it's fine, and then it's either too thin or too thick!"

"That's because it changes with the way the water moves. You have to constantly keep track of it. Keep practicing until you can adjust it subconsciously."

Naruto scrunched his face in concentration. Kaze, deciding it was time to check, slowly released his grip again. The blond stayed up, wobbly, but up. Kaze smirked and waited for the blond to realize he was holding himself up. It took a few minutes before the blond kind of had a dawning look when he finally noticed his chakra wasn't spiking as erratically. He immediately tried to take a step and sunk. Kaze scrubbed a hand across his face in frustration. A choked sound to the side drew Kaze's attention. He blinked.

_Are you...laughing?_

_Yes._ Was the chuckled reply.

Naruto came up spluttering and pulled himself on to the water's surface. With a focused expression he tried walking again. Gaara spoke up.

"Iruka-san. Were you not going to teach us to swim?"

"Oh!" Iruka spluttered before stripping as well and moving into the water. He made his way over to where Gaara was floating and Kaze standing. Naruto had stumbled a few feet away. With a disgruntled look, Kaze allowed himself to slip back into the water. He shuddered at the sensation. Iruka gave him an amused look before starting in on a lecture about what was required to allow the body to swim correctly. Kaze listened closely as Gaara decided to try to mimic what he'd seen Iruka do to get out here. Unsurprisingly, Gaara was a natural swimmer.

It took half and hour for Kaze to be able to swim decently. He didn't like it, he doubted he would work very much to get better at it. But one look at the content Gaara and he knew that he would suffer through a hundred swimming lessons if it meant keeping that smile on Gaara's face. Off to the side, Naruto had finally gotten the hang of water walking. Kaze exited the water with a content Gaara following. Kaze considered whether they could convince the Kazekage to put a pool in their basement...

Naruto exited the lake happily. The happiness lasted for a split second before he yelped in shock as a warm wind wrapped briefly around the four swimmers and dissipated leaving them dry. Gaara nodded in Kaze's direction.

"Thank you, Kaze."

Kaze nodded back. He dressed quickly before strapping on his tanto. He turned to Naruto.

"Have you tried tree climbing yet?"

"I can climb trees!" Naruto shouted indignantly. With an eye roll Kaze moved over to a tree and walked right up it. Naruto huffed before stomping up and attempting the same thing he'd just learned for water walking. He was shot clear off the tree. With a sigh Kaze walked over to the blond and hauled him up before taking him back to the tree.

"Put your foot on the trunk."

Naruto scowled but complied.

"Now, SLOWLY put chakra into your foot. When your foot sticks, you will be able to walk up the tree. Water changes, trees do not. The amount that sticks for one step, will stick for the next."

Naruto scrunched his face in concentration, pulling at his foot from time to time until it stuck. cautiously, he lifted his other foot and did the same. With cautious steps, he walked up the tree and back down.

"I did it!" He yelled jumping up and down. "I did it!"

"Yes, you did." Gaara replied from his spot on the ground. He was sitting with his gourd in front of him, playing with the sand.

-s-s-s-s-s-Meanwhile, in Hokage's Office-s-s-s-s-s-

"Kazekage, you seem to have forgotten to mention something."

"And what would that be?"

"That you have brought with you not one, but two Jinchuriki."

"We are allies, are we not? Would I not expect you to trust that I mean no harm. Yes, my son is a Jinchuriki, as is his Guard. They do not mean harm."

"Is that so, then what interest would they have in my Jinchuriki?"

"Curiosity I would presume. Gaara has never met another Jinchuriki aside from Kaze, and if Kaze has he has spoken nothing of it. It may simply be that they are curious how Jinchuriki are treated elsewhere."

"I see."

-s-s-s-s-s-

Kaze looked up as both Kages entered the clearing. Gaara, Naruto, and himself were playing a game using a deck of cards that Gaara always carried in his gourd. The duo had a fondness for children's games, with the exception of bending the rules to make it more interesting. They were playing a version of War that involved wild cards and odd setups. Naruto, somehow, was winning though he didn't seem to have a clue how to play. Gaara had even tried stacking the deck, and the blond still won. It was inconceivable.

The Kages stopped briefly to speak with Iruka and the ANBU Captains of both the Suna Jinchuriki and Naruto's squads. Finished they moved the rest of the way to them, Iruka trailing behind. The older Hokage spoke.

"Ohayo, Naruto. I see you have made some friends. Iruka tells me you learned to walk on water and tree walk today."

"Yeah! Kaze was teaching me. Iruka-Sensei taught him and Gaara to swim. He didn't say anything, but I think it was a trade for teaching them."

Gaara's eyes widened, obviously not having thought the blond would catch on. He seemed oblivious of everything else...

"They are fun to play with though! Gaara was teaching me a funny version of War. It's really hard, but Kaze said I'm winning. He didn't seem very happy about it..."

The Hokage chuckled.

"I expect he didn't think you would be able t play very well."

"Oh."

Kaze huffed.

"It's not that, I just wasn't expecting you to win when you didn't know what you were doing. It shouldn't work like that." He huffed again, air swirling the leaves around him briefly in agitation before it settled. Gaara hummed in amusement. Kaze scowled at him.

"You're just happy that you're not the one losing this time."

Gaara nodded with a smirk.

The Kages both watched the exchange with amused expressions.

_I don't think we were supposed to be able to recognize another Jinchuriki on sight._

_I agree. Perhaps Father suspected this might happen? It would allow him to know the identity of another Jinchuriki._

_True, but there was a larger chance we would not have come across the blond._

Gaara nodded absently before turning to his Father.

"Are we leaving, or may we continue to play with Naruto?"

"Actually, I was planning on taking Naruto out for Ramen, if the three of you would like to join us." The Hokage remarked with a glance to the Kazekage. Said male nodded slowly.

"That is fine, Hokage. Perhaps a brief meal would be welcome before we began the journey home."

The Hokage smiled and started walking in a random direction. The rest fell in step. Naruto bounced back to Kaze and Gaara.

"Just you wait, Ichiraku's has the best ramen ever!"

"What is Ramen?" Gaara asked innocently. The blond froze in horror.

"You don't know what ramen is?!"

"I would not have asked if I knew, Naruto."

Naruto turned to Kaze with a questioning look, the gray-haired youth shook his head in the negative. Naruto turned towards the Hokage.

"Hurry up, Old Man, we gotta intoroduce them to ramen! How could they not know what ramen is?!"

"There are no ramen stands in Suna." The Kazekage replied to the blond with an amused expression.

"No ramen?!" The Kyuubi Jinchuriki shuddered in horror. "How do you live there?" He stage whispered to his fellow Jinchuriki. Kaze smirked at the blond with an amused raise of the brow.

"Do you have pickled scorpion?"

"Ewww... No! Who would like that?"

Gaara gave Naruto an annoyed expression. The blond flushed and sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

"Sorry Gaara. What do you like, Kaze?"

Kaze tilted his head in thought.

"Hmm...Steak Tar-Tar."

"What?" The blond asked. It was the Kazekage who answered.

"It is steak, cut into cubes and served raw. Kaze is quite fond of it for some reason or another."

Naruto made a disgusted face and dropped the subject. The group of thinking children, and amused adults finally reached the Ramen Stand. Naruto skipped inside to find a seat and place his order. The Kages took the seats at opposite ends. Naruto ended up between the Hokage and Kaze, with Gaara, and then the Kazekage on Kaze's other side.

It was going to be a long night.


End file.
